Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins and Malans: home of Graubünden Blauburgunder and Completer
To taste Bündner Herrschaft wine, pick a Pinot Noir from its four villages north of Chur: Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins and Malans. Pinot Noir, called Blauburgunder here, covers two-thirds of the 422 hectares of vines in Graubünden in 2025, according to the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG).
The foehn, a warm wind coming down from the Alps, makes it the warmest wine region in German-speaking Switzerland, according to Swiss Wine Promotion. Malans also grows a white rarity: Completer.
In the Rhine valley in northern Graubünden (Grisons), between Chur and the border with St. Gallen. The Bündner Herrschaft covers the communes of Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins and Malans, and most of the canton's vineyards are here.
Graubünden has 422 hectares of vines excluding Mesolcina in 2025, according to the FOAG. Mesolcina, an Italian-speaking valley south of the Alps, adds 28 hectares, mostly Merlot, which the statistics count with Italian-speaking Switzerland. Graubünden Wein, the canton's wine association, notes that the area has doubled in fifty years, from about 200 hectares in 1970.
The foehn is the key. This warm, dry wind blows down from the Alps in autumn; Swiss Wine Promotion, the body that promotes Swiss wine, calls it the grape cooker. It extends the ripening of the grapes. Soils are rich in limestone, often calcareous schist, according to Graubünden Wein.
The result is a Pinot Noir that Graubünden Wein describes as Burgundian in style, sometimes fruit-driven, sometimes aged in barrels for keeping. It covers 281 hectares according to the FOAG, two-thirds of the vineyards.
Its history here is partly legend. According to Graubünden Wein, Blauburgunder is said to have been brought in around 1630 by young mercenaries back from service in Burgundy; before that, mostly white grapes were grown. Our Pinot Noir page covers the grape in detail.
White grapes make up about 29% of the vines. Müller-Thurgau (Riesling-Sylvaner) is the most planted, but the best-known whites are made from Chardonnay, according to Graubünden Wein. They are often made without malolactic fermentation (the second fermentation that softens acidity) and with a touch of residual sugar, which keeps them fresh.
The local rarity is Completer, an old, very acidic white grape. Swiss Wine Promotion cites a Completer vineyard in Malans in a document from 1321; according to Graubünden Wein, the canons of Chur drank it after Compline, the evening prayer. It covers 9.8 hectares in Graubünden according to the FOAG, more than half of all Swiss Completer. Our Completer page tells its story.
The oldest record of winegrowing in Graubünden dates from 765: in his will, Bishop Tello of Chur left a vineyard near Ilanz to the monastery of Disentis, recalls Graubünden Wein. In the Middle Ages, vines grew up to 1,200 metres, even in the Bündner Oberland and the Lower Engadine.
Today Graubünden's winegrowers make more than 60 wines from over 42 grape varieties, according to the association. A third of the canton's vineyard is farmed organically, according to 2025 Federal Statistical Office data published by Bio Suisse.
More than 40 kilometres of signposted paths link Chur and Fläsch through the vines, past wineries and Torkel, the local name for press houses and cellars, according to Graubünden Wein. In Jenins, a short trail with eight panels around the old Torkel explains grapes, history and winegrowing.
The association also offers a backpack tasting: three wines to enjoy on a walk, with an audio guide. Through the year, wine festivals liven up Fläsch and Maienfeld.
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Graubünden, excluding Mesolcina
In the Rhine valley north of Chur, in the communes of Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins and Malans. It is Graubünden's main wine region.
A Pinot Noir, known locally as Blauburgunder: it covers two-thirds of the canton's vineyards according to the FOAG. Graubünden Wein describes it as sometimes fruit-driven, sometimes barrel-aged for keeping.
An old, very acidic white grape, rare and grown mainly in Malans. Swiss Wine Promotion traces it to a document from 1321; it covers 9.8 hectares in Graubünden according to the FOAG.
Because this warm, dry wind extends the ripening of the grapes in autumn. Swiss Wine Promotion calls it the grape cooker and credits it with making the Bündner Herrschaft the warmest wine region in German-speaking Switzerland.
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